While admitting systemic problems, the new head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the vast majority of the employees at his beleaguered agency are not the issue.

Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson spoke Thursday in Fayetteville, home to a medical center with one of the country’s worst average waiting times for veterans seeking primary care treatment.

Gibson recounted changes the agency is making to address the issue as he gave an emotional defense of VA employees, the vast majority of whom he described as working harder for less pay than similarly qualified medical professionals in the private sector.

“As I go around this organization, I find … people who care deeply about our mission,” said Gibson. “They are people who want to do the right thing.”

The VA released an internal audit this week showing patients at the Fayetteville center wait an average of 29 days for a primary care appointment. New patients wait 83 days.

The scheduling issues across Eastern North Carolina and the entire United States were a result of employees being tempted “to game the system,” Gibson said.

Gibson did not provide specifics on the Jacksonville or Wilmington VA facilities that are currently under investigation but said that fixing the “systemic problems” that have surfaced within the VA “won’t happen overnight.”

Many of the scheduling violations, he said, are due to a “leadership failure.” To address the problems, the VA is rolling out additional training and will require medical center directors nationwide to conduct monthly face-to-face meetings at their subordinate clinics. The meetings, a new requirement, will help directors to identify obstacles at the clinics and ensure schedulers are competent in the roles, Gibson said.

Gibson said the VA will closely monitor the number of appointments scheduled as well as the number of appointments completed across the country. Gibson said $7.3 million dollars recently allocated to the Fayetteville VA will further accelerate care.

“The biggest constraint people face here in Fayetteville is space,” said Gibson, citing extended hours and mobile clinics to potentially alleviate some of those constraints. “We are doing some things nationally to expand contract care. …While we are waiting to get veterans off of wait lists, there is needed work in many other areas, which has become painfully obvious.”

Gibson did not specify if the money would be spread across all clinics Fayetteville oversees.

Gibson expressed the importance of allowing the Office of the Inspector General to conduct a thorough investigation. He said a few investigations are nearing completion or have been completed, and he is waiting for those reports from the OIG, although he did not specify which locations the reports would reflect.

“I will not hesitate to raise my hand if resources are needed,” said Gibson on his willingness to ask the government for necessary assistance. “I am convinced that we will come out of this crisis as an organization who is better able to meet the needs of our nation’s veterans.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

-----------

This morning, acting Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson met with Fayetteville VA staff, veteran service organizations and North Carolina officials.

He opened a Thursday afternoon press conference by saying "Everything we do here is built on a foundation of trust. … It's obvious we have seen much of that trust erode."

Fixing it "starts with one veteran at a time," he said.

Gibson also said "We don't expect (trust) to be given, we expect to earn it."

He also spoke about the accelerated care initiative saying that "you lose sight of the tail" when you focus on the average.

He is "asking and demanding" for all information from all VA facilities across the country and is receiving an almost daily update of the situation.

Gibson said he wants to follow the numbers of appointments scheduled and the numbers of appointments completed because they're "important to track."

He also said $7.3 million has been alloted to Fayetteville to accelerate care. He said their biggest constraint is space and they will use extended hours and mobile clinics to accomplish their mission.

He said that "willful misconduct will not be tolerated" and people will be held accountable.

Gibson said the practices of the VA created a "temptation to game the system," which resulted in the use of unauthorized scheduling practices.

He said that the VA will continue to roll out and strengthen training across the board and the directors of all VA medical centers will meet face to face with him monthly.

"This is a gradual process and won't happen overnight," he said in regards to fixing the VA.